Jorge Calleja will help define the growing brand

The world’s most valuable startup needs some marketing help, and now its agency’s creative team has a new leader.

Deutsch hired Jorge Calleja to be its evp, executive creative director in Los Angeles. Calleja’s primary responsibility will be managing the office’s work for Uber, and he will report to Deutsch North America chief creative officer Pete Favat.

“Jorge is one of the best creatives to walk through these doors,” Favat said in a statement. “His experience building global brands like Oreo, Coca-Cola, Nike and Adidas is inspiring. He’s responsible for some of our industry’s most visually iconic work, and we’re thrilled to have him at Deutsch. He’ll be an incredible addition to an already deep creative bench.”

Calleja, who most recently held the ecd role at TBWA’s dedicated Apple agency, Media Arts Lab, after stints at The Martin Agency, Wieden+Kennedy and Sid Lee Amsterdam, said, “The prospect of working with this leadership team at Deutsch was the first thing that drew me to the agency. The opportunity to work on a brand like Uber was exactly what I wanted in my next role.”

Last summer, Deutsch beat out several other agencies to become Uber’s first U.S. creative partner. That marked a shift for the ride-hailing giant, which has handled the majority of its past marketing efforts internally. The famously aggressive company now looks to overcome a recent series of public relations challenges while expanding its presence in the market and relegating competitors like Lyft to permanent underdog status. (Lyft also recently concluded a creative review, but it has not yet revealed its new agency of record.)

A Deutsch spokesperson declined to discuss its work for Uber or elaborate on its relationship with the company, which traditionally does not discuss marketing plans. Uber has frequently partnered with other big brands on projects like January’s “Party Safe” Doritos bag, which was designed by Goodby Silverstein & Partners to help ensure that football fans could get home from their Super Bowl parties without driving drunk.